“We need to disappear, now. Leave your shit, and let’s go.”
“What? Why?”
“Because abductees don’t have time to stop for their bags.”
“But I’m coming freely.”
“And the FBI will persecute you for it. We’re traffickers, Pet. You can’t be seen to be willingly accompanying traffickers. That makes you an accessory, and more than that, you’ll no longer be protected by the Victim’s Protection Act.”
“Then how do we do this?”
He presses a chaste kiss to my forehead. “You take a nap.”
A humorless laugh escapes me. “What?” Ares pulls a plastic baggie from his pocket. Inside is a wad of cloth. I stare at the offending item. “What is that?”
He opens the bag and the sickening chemical scent leaches out, wafting on the air between us.
“Chloroform,” he says, a wicked glint in his eye that I’ve missed so much.
All the blood drains from my face, and my heart beats so loud I wonder how he can’t hear it. “You weren’t really giving me a choice, were you?”
“No, Pet. You’re mine. There is no other choice.”
I shake my head. “You don’t need to dru—”
Before I can finish my sentence, he covers my mouth with the rag. I hold my breath as I struggle in his arms, but I wasn’t prepared. The chloroform burns my nose, my lungs squeeze painfully, and I can’t help but breathe in through the thick chemical cloud.
“No,” I murmur against the cloth, attempting to push him away, but my limbs are weak and of little use against my Master.My monster.
“Shh, Pet. Five more minutes and you’ll be asleep.”
“Why?” I splutter. He removes the rag, but the drug is already at work. It’s not like in the movies. It takes hold of you slowly, lethargy seeping into every limb, bone-deep. “I would have come with you.”
“I know.”
I close my eyes and swallow hard. All I can taste is the sweet chemical. It rolls over my tongue like a treat, though it’s anything but. I struggle, one last attempt to free myself.
Ares presses a kiss to my temple. His breath is warm against my ear. It sends shivers down my spine. “You’re mine. Don’t fight it, Pet.”
“I . . . I hate . . . you.”
He sweeps me up in his big arms, carrying me through the door to my dressing room. I struggle to keep my eyes open, and tuck my head in against his chest. “I know, but you love me more.”